66th Edition
In the tumultuous summer of 1863, President Lincoln was struggling to find a General who could lead the North to victory against Robert E. Lee. Finally, Lincoln appointed a relatively untested General, George Meade, who was soon to face Lee’s Confederate Army at a place in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. After three days and nearly 50,000 dead, the North had delivered General Lee his first major defeat. Retreating south, Lee’s army was vulnerable, and with the swollen Potomac River at his back, Lincoln urged General Meade to pursue Lee in hopes of a final victory that would end the bloody Civil War. In short, Meade hesitated, and Lee eventually escaped to fight again. Incensed, Lincoln penned a scathing letter to Meade, writing at the bottom, “Never signed, never sent.” Given the immense pressure Lincoln was under, with re-election looming and would be assassins lurking, Lincoln exhibited incredible compassion and self-control. His ability to rise above and remain resolute under dire circumstances is one of the many things about Lincoln that, in my mind, makes him our greatest president.
During the Civil War, Lincoln communicated primarily through telegraph and by hand-written letters. Given these rather laborious means of communication, perhaps it was easier to pause and reflect, allowing compassion and self-control to seep back into one’s mindset, pushing out anger and thoughts of retribution.
Today, with instant messaging, texts, and tweets, I’m wondering whether we might be missing those guardrails of civility. I’d like to suggest that a one-hour delay be imposed on all electronic messages. Just one hour should give everyone plenty of time to calm down, recheck the appropriateness and necessity of what are all too often emotional diatribes that do more harm than good. Sounds like a reasonable idea to me…
Turning to guardrails, more literally, I’m really struggling to understand the current strategy of the automobile manufacturers. How long can they continue to lose billions on electric car operations while consumer demand remains much stronger for gasoline-powered vehicles? Will taxpayers ultimately pay the bill for this money-losing obsession through massive government subsidies? Even more perplexing is the money being spent on self-driving cars. Is this a solution in search of a problem? Don’t most people like to drive, or at least like the freedom of being behind the wheel?
Are there other areas where advanced technology seems misaligned or unnecessary? Sure, but that fact isn’t likely to change. Innovation and technological advancements are inherently disruptive. They don’t always match up perfectly with consumer demand, existing markets, or unmet needs. Fortunately, in most cases, consumers have the freedom to be early adopters, or they can wait for all the bugs to be eliminated, or they can cling to the old tried and true methodologies. It makes everyday life interesting.
It gets messy when bureaucrats, or elites, try to force change on a skeptical or reluctant consumer, which seems to be common practice today. As long as democracy and even a glimmer of free-market capitalism exists in our country there will be an ongoing battle between individual freedom and those in power who want to limit and control that freedom in order to remain in power. What makes all this quite complicated is that sometimes the bureaucrats and the elites do in fact have good ideas that will benefit the common good. Other times their ideas are just plain dumb, or worse. Yet, as history has taught us, those in power will do virtually anything to remain in power. That is always their primary goal. And when they are challenged they often make costly mistakes, for which the rest of us end up paying. In short, policy mistakes always cost somebody something.
One hundred years before the Civil War, the Founding Fathers well understood man’s fallibility and the inherent danger of concentrated power. So, they built guardrails into the system and produced the U.S. Constitution, which established a democratic republic, of the people, by the people, and for the people.
A functioning society will always need guardrails. It functions best when they are self-imposed, when we consider others and the common good before our own desires. The Founding Fathers and President Lincoln understood that timeless truth. Have we lost faith today, in that vitally important commitment to service to others before self? If so, and that conclusion isn’t much of a stretch, what could put us back on track toward the proper balance between freedom and responsibility? Better leadership would help. In the meantime, we might approach each day mindful of opportunities to TIES – Thank, Inspire, Encourage, and Serve. Kingdom-building guardrails in a world that just seems a bit off.
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Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.